Mattres handle



y 23, 1968 J. D. ANDERSON 3,393,410

MATTRES S HANDLE Filed Sept. 30, 1966 INVENTOR.

JOHN D. ANDERSON ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,393,410 MATTRESS HANDLE John D. Anderson, St. Paul, Minn., assignor to Bechik Products, Inc., St. Paul, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Filed Sept. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 583,260 1 Claim. (Cl. 345) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A handle having a head at each end thereof with a central aperture therethrough at least partially closed by an integral imperforate web and surrounded by a radially inwardly extending recess or shoulder and a grommet having a circular portion adapted to butt against the shoulder in the head with sharpened legs extending axially therefrom and spaced radially inwardly so as to be forced through the web during assembly into the side wall of a mattress. The legs are of sufiicient length to extend through the side wall of the mattress and partially encircle a ring on the opposite side thereof.

This invention pertains to a mattress handle and more specifically to a mattress handle which is designed to prevent the separation thereof from the wall of the mattress.

In the prior art an elongated handle having an enlarged relatively flat anchoring head at either end thereof is anchored to the side walls of a mattress by means of a grommet. The grommet generally includes a relatively flat plate having a plurality of holes therethrough for breathing purposes, and a plurality of legs extending axially from the outer periphery thereof. The grommet is placed in an aperture in the head of the handle, and the legs are pressed through the side wall of the mattress. An anchoring washer is placed on the inner surface of the side wall of the mattress coaxial with the aperture in the head of the handle, and the legs of the grommet are bent to partially encircle the washer and hold the handle fixedly in position. After extended use or during extremely hard use, the aperture in the head of the handle has a tendency to enlarge and become distorted so that the grommet will eventually slip completely through the aperture and, thereby, disconnect the handle from the mattress wall.

In one prior art device, the aperture through the head of the handle has a diameter somewhat smaller than the diameter of the grommet. A plurality of arcuate shaped, slot-like openings are formed in the head adjacent the outer periphery of the aperture and concentric therewith. The slot-like openings are adapted to receive the legs of the grommet therethrough, and are designed to prevent the grommet from being pulled completely through the aperture. However, the formation of the slot-like openings in the head of the handle add an additional step to the manufacture thereof, and thereby, greatly increase the cost. Also, during assembly of the handles on a mattress wall, the legs of the grommet must be positioned exactly relative to the slot-like openings or the grommet cannot be correctly positioned relative to the head. 'Ihus, assembly, time, and cost is also greatly increased.

In the present device, a handle having a head at either end thereof is constructed with an aperture through each of the heads and an outwardly opening annular recess about said aperture. The aperture is at least partially closed by a web of material integrally attached to the head, which web is adapted to receive therethrough the sharpened legs of a grommet having a head adapted to nest in the annular recess. The sharpened legs of the grommet are forced through the side wall of the mattress and engaged over an anchoring washer in the usual manner to maintain the handle fixedly attached to the side wall of the mattress. The webbing across the aperture in each of the heads prevents the grommet from being pulled through the aperture due to weakening of the materials with age or excess forces. Also, the webbing is formed in the aperture during the forming of the handle in a one step operation rather than requiring excess, costly, and time consuming steps after the formation of the handle. Also, because the sharp ends of the legs of the grommet are forced through the webbing during assembly, there is no necessity for special assembling machinery to align the ends of the legs with openings or the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved mattress handle.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mattress handle having means incorporated therein to reduce the possibility of the mattress handle becoming disengaged from the mattress after excess wear or excess forces are applied thereto.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved mattress handle which is simpler and cheaper to produce and simpler and cheaper to assemble.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying specification, claim, and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the figures:

FIGURE 1 is a view in top plan of the present mattress handle attached to the side walll of a mattress;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view as seen from the irregular line 22 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view in top plan of one end of the mattress handle prior to assembly of the grommet therein;

FIGURE 4 is a view in bottom plan of the portion of the mattress handle illustrated in FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged exploded view in perspective of one end of the mattress handle illustrating the various components therein.

In the various views, the numeral 10 designates a handle generally constructed of plastic or the like to provide it with flexibility and suflicient strength to carry a mattress thereby. The numeral 11 indicates the side wall of a conventional mattress or the like, and the handle 10 is placed in overlying relationship to the outer surface thereof. The handle 10 includes a relatively narrow intermediate gripping portion 12 which, preferably and as shown, is offset from but parallel to the wall 11, and enlarged anchoring heads 13 and 14 at the opposite ends thereof. Since each of the heads 13 and 14 are similar, a detailed view of only the head 14 is illustrated in FIGURE 2 The anchoring head 14 is provided with a transverse aperture 15 having an outwardly opening annular recess 16 concentric therewith and adjacent the outer surface, or the surface spaced farthest from the mattress wall 11. The anchoring head 14 also has a web 20 of material partially closing the aperture 15. The web 20 is located across the aperture 15 approximately midway between the annular recess 16 and the inner surface of the head 14, or the surface of the mattress wall 11. In this embodiment, the web 20 only partially closes the aperture 15 since a centrally located breathing hole 21 is formed therein. The breathing hole 21 is formed to allow air to flow therethrough during compression of the mattress and may not be required in some embodiments. However, the web 20 should be formed integral with the head 14, and should close at least an annular portion of said aperture 15 adjacent the outer periphery thereof.

An anchoring washer 25 overlies the inner surface of the mattress wall 11 coaxial with the aperture 15 in the head 14. A grommet generally designated 30 includes a circular breather plate 31, adapted to fit snugly Within the annular recess 16, and a plurality of legs 32 extending axially from adjacent the periphery of the breather plate 31. Each of the legs 32 has a sharpened outermost extremity adapted to pierce the web 20 and the side wall 11 of the mattress. The ends of the legs 32 protruding through the side wall 11 of the mattress are flared or crimped over the anchoring washer 25 to maintain the entire assembly fixedly in position. The breather plate 31 of the grommet 3t) fits snugly within the annular recess 16 s of the head 14 and in general prevents the handle 19 from becoming disengaged from the side wall 11 of the mattress. However, the breather plate 31 alone is not sufiicient to prevent disengagement of the handle under all conditions and after the handle 10 has been used excessively or an excess amount of force has been applied thereto, the head 14 has a tendency to become deformed and may allow the grommet 30 to pass through the aperture 15, thereby, disengaging the handle 10 from the mattress wall 11. To rectify this problem the web 20 is formed as an integral part of the head 14. The web 20 in the aperture 15 prevents any substantial deformation of the head 14 and provides an additional barrier to the passage of the grommet 30 through the aperture 15.

In the assembly of the mattress handle 10, the head 14 is positioned in overlying relationship on the mattress wall 11 over the desired area and the anchoring Washer 25 is positioned in overlying relationship on the opposite surface of the mattress wall 11 coaxial with the aperture 15 in the head 14. The sharpened extremities of the legs 32 of the grommet 30 are then positioned in the aperture 15 of the head 14 after which they are forced through the web and the mattress 11. The extended ends of the legs 32 are bent to encircle portions of the anchoring washer to hold the entire assembly fixedly in position. It should be understood that the entire assembling operation could be performed by a type of crimping machine since the legs 32 of the grommet do not have to be placed in any particular position relative to the head 14. Because the legs 32 are forced through the web Ztl during the assembly of the handle 10, there are no additional hole forming steps required in the production of the handle nor are there any additional requirements for aligning the legs 32 with openings in the head 14 during the assembly thereof. Thus, the production and the assembly of the handle 10 is greatly simplified.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of this invention, further modification and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire it to be understood therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular form shown, and I intend in the appended claim to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. An elongated handle adapted to overlie the outer surface of a mattress wall or the like comprising:

(a) an enlarged relatively fiat anchoring head at one end thereof;

(b) said head being formed with a substantially centrally located aperture therethrough and an annular portion integral with said head having a reduced longitudinal dimension adjacent the outer periphery of the aperture so as to define an axially outwardly opening annular recess about said aperture, said head further having an integral imperforate web portion with a longitudinal dimension relatively thin compared to said annular portion extending radially inwardly from said annular portion at least partially closing said aperture;

(c) an anchoring washer adapted to overlie the inner surface of said wall in coaxial relation to the aperture in said head;

(d) a grommet including a plurality of legs extending axially from positions spaced radially inwardly from the periphery of a breather plate, each leg having a sharpened outermost extremity; and

(e) said grommet being formed to fit in said head with the portion of said breather plate between the outer periphery and said legs abutting said annular recess and the legs extending through said web and said wall and having a sufiicient length to be bent to at least partially encircle a portion of said anchoring washer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,378,108 5/1921 Hart et al. 2494 2,876,465 3/1959 Poupitch 5345 2,961,669 11/1960 Bechik 5345 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner.

A. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner. 

